The Past Can Haunt You
by The Blue Spectre
Summary: When Danny begins a school research project on an ancient, ghost worshiping people, he uncovers more than he bargained for.
1. Ancient Power

Danny looked at has watch. "Darn. Still 20 minutes until ancient civilizations," he muttered to himself. "Hmm. I wonder if today will be the day?" Danny had signed up for the ancient civilizations class at the beginning of freshman year, thinking it would be a good way to get an easy credit or two. Of course, this had been before his little...accident... in his parents' lab. Recently his teacher had told the class that they would next be studying an ancient European people by the name of the Nihotes. They believed in ghost worship, and the teacher said that, by studying the ancient writings and ruins of the people, some scientists even believed they could turn into ghosts at will. Of course, the teacher had said, the whole "ghost thing" wasn't taken too seriously today. It was probably some sort of ancient metaphor, used to mean something else. People couldn't just turn into ghosts.  
  
But that had been weeks ago, and now Danny was looking more and more forward to when they could start the unit on the Nihotes. Of course, Mr. Geoffreys, the teacher, wasn't any more exuberant about this civilization than he was about any other. When class started that day, Mr. Geoffreys paced around the room. "You are standing in a dark cave," he began. "You look around you at all of your fellows, preparing to rise. As if on cue, you and you brethren stand and begin to chant. There is a stone circle on the floor in front of you, and when your song begins, it starts to glow green with an unearthly light. One of your tribes-mates takes out a flute and begins to play. Out of the green glow comes a figure. It is a ghost. Then comes another. And another. You bow down in worship, praying to the ghostly figures. Suddenly all of you become ghosts yourselves, flying through the cave, screaming. There is joy in the air, a joy so powerful, you and your people can hardly contain it. You land, and it is done."  
  
Danny sat listening, half entranced by the tale of the people he was sure were the Nihotes. "Wow," thought Danny. "That's EXACTLY how it feels when I fly."  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by his teacher saying, "...and these people were called the Nihotes, living in ancient times, and worshiping ghosts. Of course, what you heard just now was speculation only. No one actually believes these people could become ghosts. It's an impossibility. Utter madness to even think of it. Yes... um, now, the first thing we'll do for this unit is to have you all write a paper on being a ghost. What would it feel like? What would you look like? What is the first thing you would do if you could fly, and go through walls? Oh yes, don't forget the turning invisible part. That is an important thing for a ghost. Are we all clear on what we're doing here? Good. Now on to the writing."  
  
"Yes!" Danny said. "Finally a writing assignment I know I'll get a good grade on. How can I not? I know everything there is to know about being a ghost." But just as he was about to put his pencil to his paper, he yawned. That would have been okay, if not for the freezing blue fog that issued out of his mouth. "Well, that can't be good," he muttered. "Uh, Mr. Geoffreys, may I use the restroom?" and with that, he ran out of the room.  
  
Racing down the hall, Danny looked around. No one was coming. He quickly hid in a corner, and muttered to himself. "I'm going ghost." A blinding flash came from his body, and when he could see again, he had become Danny Phantom. He turned invisible, and floated through to the room where he had felt the ghost energy coming from. A giant monster was waiting for him there. It roared. Danny charged the beast, knocking him into a classroom wall. The ghost phased through. "Great," said Danny. "That's just what I need. A bunch of 10th graders running around, claiming to have seen a giant ghost monster. Well, I better put a stop to this." But when Danny phased through the wall, there was nothing there. No monster, no students, no classroom. Danny gasped. "Where am I?" he shouted, looking around. He was surrounded in a white mist, and could see nothing but white all around him. Looking around, he saw a darker patch in the air. He flew over, and saw something he would remember for the rest of his life. It was a great stone circle, at least 20 feet across; inscribed with symbols and letters Danny had never seen. But he did recognize one thing on it. A picture of a ghost. "It's a Nihote circle," he cried. "I'm sure of it!"  
  
He touched it, and as soon as his hand brushed it, he was back inside his school. "Whoa. That was weird," he said. "I'd better get back to class." So Danny landed, exited the deserted classroom, and walked on to back to class. 


	2. The Fenton Wallpaper

After class was over, Danny joined his two best friends at lunch. Tucker and Sam weren't just his best friends, they were his only friends. You see, on the social scale, Danny and his friends...well, they weren't too popular. In fact Danny was the favorite punching bag of Dash, the most popular boy in school, and that wasn't all. Paullina, the most popular girl, had made it her goal to ruin Danny's life. Danny sat down with his tray. "Guys," he said, "you'll never believe what happened to me during class today." But just as Danny was about to tell them, everyone's favorite jock walked up.  
  
"Hello, Fenton," Dash said, managing to turn Danny's name into something more akin to an insult. "I see your girlfriend is looking especially nice today."  
  
This, of course, was followed by the usual turn of events, which included Sam yelling scathing insults at Dash's figure as he retreated, laughing maniacally. Danny blushed, ducking his head into his arms.  
  
"Great," he said. "Just when I thought today couldn't be weirder, Dash actually says something nice to one of us. Huh."  
  
"Weirder?" asked tucker. "How so? I've been having trouble deciding as to just what counts as weird lately." So Danny told them all about the ghost, the mist, and the stone. His friends sat listening, until finally Tucker spoke. "I'm not sure, Danny," he said. "I'd have to say that the Dash thing might be weirder."  
  
Danny slapped him, and life went on, the way it always did with them, Danny's strange adventure momentarily forgotten.  
  
When Danny got home that day, the last thing he wanted to think about was ghosts. All that afternoon, he'd gotten sleepier and sleepier. Danny yawned as he walked through the front door. "I'm going to go work on homework. Wake me...I mean, uh, come get me when it's time for dinner." And he started up the stairs.  
  
"Wait!" Danny heard his father yelling from the laboratory. "You have to see the latest in Fenton-Ghost-Catching Technology!"  
  
"Great," thought Danny. "I'm never safe from my dad and his ghost stuff."  
  
"This," puffed Jack Fenton, "climbing the stairs. "This will revolutionize the ghost-catching world!" He held something out in his hand, something that looked suspiciously like wallpaper.  
  
Danny came closer to get a better look. "I wasn't aware that there was anyone besides you and mom who had this ghost obsession." Danny remarked dryly.  
  
"That's beside the point! Now look at this. Here in my hand is something I like to call the Fenton Wallpaper! Yes, the Fenton Wallpaper is ingenious. If a ghost so much as touches this stuff, an imprint of the ghost will be left on the wall! Isn't that cool? Isn't it?"  
  
"Uh. Sure, Dad." Danny muttered.  
  
"Here, son. Catch it!" Danny's dad threw the wallpaper up at his son. Danny tried to avoid it, but it hit his face. When the paper fell to the ground, you could see a surprised-looking face on it, staring straight ahead. The face looked like Danny's, but with white hair and bright green eyes.  
  
Danny and his father looked down at it, and without meeting his father's eyes, he raced upstairs. "Uh, I gotta go. Um, I have homework and stuff. Yeah."  
  
In his room, Danny breathed out hard. "Well," he thought. "That was a bit too close for comfort." But Danny was too tired to do much thinking about how he was going to get out of that one. As he fell asleep right where he sat, he hoped that his dad was a bit too thickheaded to realize what had just happened. 


	3. The Mark on the Wall

As Danny slept, some weird things were happening to his mind. In his dream, strange symbols flashed through his mind. They weren't in any language he'd ever seen, but he knew that they said, as it the words were imprinted in his mind.  
  
"The boy-ghost, child of legend, son of a giant, friend to all, hero of ages, we have seen your face. Your fate is known to us, and has been known since time began. Soon you shall face great peril, a monster greater than any you have faced. Be warned, Phantom-Child... be warned!"  
  
And the voiced faded, and Danny fell into a dreamless sleep for the rest of the evening.  
  
When he awoke the next morning, he was so out of it that he just flew through the wall without thinking. Suddenly he realized his parents might be watching and landed. As he turned around, he saw his body imprinted on the wall, with white hair, green eyes, and...strange markings on his forehead? What? Danny ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Nothing. He changed to ghost form. Nothing. Wait, was there something? He looked closer. It seemed there was a faint mark on his head, but only barely visible. It looked like a circle with a jagged line coming off it.  
  
But it was very faint, and could only be seen while he was a ghost, so that wasn't an immediate problem. The real problem was what he should do about the wall. "Danny?" yelled his mom. "What's taking you so long? You're going to be late!" using reflexes Danny didn't know he possessed, he used his ectoplasmic blasts to paint over the wall.  
  
"Wow. I wouldn't have thought that would work." Flying with all due speed, he actually managed to be dressed before his mom could walk in on him.  
  
As his mom walked in, his forehead flashed brightly, and he felt the words in that other language come crashing through his mind.  
  
Trying not to look to scared, he shouted his goodbyes and ran off to school before anything else could happen 


	4. The Forest

"Oh god." Danny whimpered, "What am I going to do?" He had just gotten to school, and walked into the bathroom, feeling like he might throw up. Then he looked in the mirror. On his forehead was the mark. He wasn't in ghost mode, and it wasn't a faint mark. It was as bright as the noonday sun. "Oh god. I'm so dead. Oh god."  
  
He had tried rubbing it off, washing it off, wiping it off, everything short of tearing the skin off of his face. Then he remembered. Sam was a girl, right? She wore makeup, right? So maybe she'd have something to cover up his forehead. So with one hand over his face, Danny ran to find Sam.  
  
As soon as Sam saw him, she froze. "What's the matter, Danny? You look like you've seen a ghost...um, or something."  
  
Danny showed her the mark. "Can you cover it up?" He asked.  
  
"Well..." she said, "I might have something..." she dug through her backpack. "Ok," she says. "I found it. This is called cover-up. It should cover-up the...thing." But as soon as she touched his forehead, something strange began to happen. Both Sam and Danny felt dizzy, swayed, and blacked-out.  
  
When Danny woke up, he felt.......odd, to say the least. The feeling was comparable to the way he felt after pulling that all-nighter it 8th grade. He opened his eyes, and sat up, or at least he tried to. Even the slight movement of lifting his head pained him. So he looked around from a horizontal position—and sat up with a start, wincing. He wasn't in the school anymore; he wasn't even in a place he recognized. He was in the middle of what seemed to be a large forest, but the trees were larger than he thought trees could get. He yelped. Staring out of the trees were what seemed to be people. Small people, with white hair, and green eyes...  
  
He would have run after them, but they vanished into the trees. Literally, vanished. They had dematerialized. He sat down again, with a wince, and looked around again, seeing something that made him bounce up. He was starting to feel like a seesaw...up and down...up and down. But there on the forest floor was Sam.  
  
He ran over, and shook her, trying to wake her up. "Sam, Sam, are you ok? Speak to me, Sam. Sam?" Finally she awoke, looking at him with wide, frightened eyes.  
  
"What happened?" she asked? "Did I blackout? That happened to me once when I was..." she trailed off as she noticed where they were. "WHAT HAPPENED?"  
  
"Well," said Danny. "This is where we're both at a loss." 


	5. Stones and Fields

Danny helped Sam to her feet. "Well, as long as we're here, we might as well look around, ok?"  
  
"Alright," Sam replied. "But let's get one thing straight. Neither of us know where we're going, so neither of us will try to take charge, RIGHT, Danny?"  
  
"Er...right." Danny blushed, somewhat ashamed that she was bringing up his shortcomings, even though he was in a place no one would hear them. So with that, the two of them got up and began to walk towards the edge of the clearing. Danny decided not to tell Sam about the ghosts he thought he'd seen, as he still wasn't sure he had imagined them.  
  
At the edge of the clearing, Sam saw something strange. "Look, Danny," she said. "How can it be that although there are leaves all over the forest floor, there are none in that clearing?" she looked back. "Whoa. What's that? Why didn't I see it before?" there in the clearing lay a giant Nihote stone. Sam ran back to examine it. "This is...this is amazing! The complexity...the workmanship. Something like this would have taken years to carve. What is it?"  
  
"Well..." said Danny, stuttering and mumbling. "I saw one of these before. You know... that one time when I had that dream, and, well, I thought it was just a dream. But this is real. Right, Sam? Right?"  
  
He sat down on the floor of the clearing and began to moan, putting his head in his hands.  
  
"What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do?" he sat that way for a few hours, in a state of total panic.  
  
Unbeknownst to him, Sam was still examining the stone. "Hey, Danny. Come here. I wan to match up the mark on your forehead to this stone." She waited as he walked over. "Hmmm...it looks as if this one here..." she pointed to a large mark in the center of the stone... "Matches the one on your forehead."  
  
She poked his head, and suddenly she wasn't on her feet anymore. She was spinning through the air...into infinity...  
  
Danny felt like he was flying, but without any control. What was happening? Where was he going? He felt like he was falling down a deep well, into blackness. There was nothing but dark. And then, there was a slit of light, and then he could see again.  
  
He was............back in the school halls. 


	6. What Happened in the Hall

Danny opened his eyes to discover that he was lying on the floors of Casper High. Oh god. I had the weirdest, most vivid dream. Let's see. Sam touched my forehead and we were transported to a forest, then we saw a stone...or, no, we saw some people...some ghosts...Ughhh... I don't remember.  
  
"What happened?" he asked Tucker, who was looking down at him. "Did I fall asleep or something? Did I hit my head? What happened, Tuck?" that's when he noticed that Sam was on the floor beside him, eyes shut. "WHAT HAPPENED?"  
  
"Well," mumbled Tucker, "I'd love to know that myself. You and Sam were standing here, discussing your...mark, when you both froze for a second, and fainted on to the floor. That was about 30 seconds ago. I've been waiting for you to wake up or something. You guys have to go to the nurse or something. You look horrible."  
  
"But won't she notice...?" Danny gestured towards his head.  
  
"Well, a minute ago, I would have said she would, but while you were on the floor, it faded and vanished. I can't explain any of this. Let me tell you, our normal routine goes against all the science I've come to trust, but this defies all the laws even more. Don't expect me to be able to answer most of this."  
  
Sam moaned. Danny rushed over to her. "Are you okay? Sam, are you alright?" Danny looked at her with a concerned face. He fought with the astonishingly strong urge to lift up her face and hug her. He mentally slapped himself. Danny, he thought, what are you doing? "Should we do something with her?" he asked Tucker.  
  
"Yeah," said Tucker. "Ask her what happened to you guys." He looked at Danny pointedly.  
  
"Oh." Danny blushed sheepishly. "Right. Well...I'm not quite sure what happened. Perhaps if Sam woke up all of the way she could tell us. But I don't know how to get her up..."  
  
"You know," said Tucker. "I've been thinking about this. You could go INTO Sam...and you know, wake her up...or something. I don't think it would be violating anything. And do it fast, the hallways never stay deserted for very long."  
  
So Danny looked around, to make sure absolutely no one was coming. "I'm going ghost, Tuck, cover me." Danny pulled from his mind the familiar sensation he was looking for, and shut his eyes to the blinding blue glare that erupted every time he became a ghost. He walked over to Sam, and simply dived into her being. Suddenly, he was Sam, lying on the floor with his eyes closed. He opened them slowly, so as not to cause a shock to her system. What had happened? He knew she would know. Suddenly he caught a flash of memory from inside her mind. A huge forest, trees...he snapped back. He could do that? Access her thoughts? He could check, just for a second, just a peek...he dived into her memories. Danny, Danny, Danny, what would she think about him. Images of him flashed by, with happy or angry or...some strange emotion he couldn't place...all of her thoughts were colored with feeling.  
  
"Danny?" Tucker whispered. "Shouldn't you come out now?"  
  
"...right." Danny was embarrassed to be caught inside Sam still. He quickly floated away from her.  
  
Sam's voice shook the hall. She screamed.  
  
"Sam...It's okay, you're okay." Danny ran to her, and again fought with the strange craving to hold her. "What do you remember?"  
  
"I was in a wood, and there was a stone, and a mark, and ghosts, and...Danny! You were with me! We were there, and you were sad, and..." her voice trailed off, leaving a bewildered look on her face.  
  
Danny gasped. "It really did happen!"  
  
Sam fainted again. 


	7. A Strange Sensation

The next morning, Danny got to school right before the bell rang. He'd woken up ten minutes before, and had to fly to school in order to get there on time at all. He'd been up for most of the night worrying about Sam. Tucker and he had brought her to the school nurse, with the excuse that Sam had fainted from exhaustion after gym class. When she didn't awaken after an hour, the nurse called the hospital.  
  
Danny knew how Sam might feel. Soon after getting his powers, he kept over extending himself when fighting ghosts. He fainted once or twice for an hour or two, and Sam and tucker had to cover for him. He sighed. Oh Sam, he thought, I hope you're ok.  
  
Tucker and he met after first period to discuss what to do. Tucker was all for missing English to go visit her, but Danny decided that they shouldn't attempt that. He was barely scraping by with a C- in that class, and he didn't want to risk failing. So they agreed to meet after school to go visit her in the hospital.  
  
All day in his classes, Danny couldn't concentrate. He kept thinking about Sam. It was all his fault this had happened. But what was "this" exactly? He still didn't know what had happened. Why had they been sent to those woods? What had Sam read on the stone? She had been about to tell them when they had been sent back. Were they really even there? Tucker said that they'd only spaced out for a moment before fainting. Was it all some sort of dream? If it was then how could Sam remember? Back to Sam again. It was all his fault.  
  
Every time he saw Sam's face in his mind, a strange shiver passed through his entire being. What was that? What did it mean? It wasn't like he had a crush on her or anything. I mean, come on, she was his best friend. JUST his best friend. Right? RIGHT?  
  
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Danny and tucker made it out of school. "Ok," Danny admitted. "Perhaps waiting till now to go to the hospital was a bad idea. I'm pretty sure I failed today's chem. test."  
  
"Why?" asked tucker. "It's not like you're the one who's sick. Or is there something you aren't telling me?" He looked at Danny with one eyebrow raised.  
  
"Er...right," said Danny. "Um, let's, uh...we should hurry. Come on."  
  
Danny and Tucker ran to the nearest bus stop, barely managing to catch the bus before it pulled away. As they drove downtown, Danny looked out the window. The buildings rushed by, but Danny couldn't see them. All he saw was a face. Sam's face, looking up at him. He slapped himself, hard. "Cut it out, Danny," he said.  
  
"Huh?" Tucker asked.  
  
"Nothing. How much longer till we reach the CityCenter Hospital?"  
  
"Um..." Tucker glanced at his watch. "I'd say in about two minutes, twenty- three seconds, allowing for traffic."  
  
And sure enough, two minutes, eighteen seconds later, they pulled up at the hospital. Danny almost phased through the bus door, he was so restless to get inside. They were told the room number was 339, on the third floor. As soon as the two boys got into the elevator, Danny ghosted up through the floors, leaving Tucker yelling obscenities at his retreating form. He burst through the wall into Sam's room, and carefully looked around. Her room was empty. He supposed her parents had gone to get something to eat. Danny became human again.  
  
He looked down at Sam's bed. If she'd awoken since yesterday's disturbing experience, you wouldn't know it. She lay sleeping on the hospital bed. Her skin was so pale, Danny thought, and her hair had a sheen that made her seem almost inhuman. Her eyelashes were long, and they fluttered in her restless sleep. Her normally harsh eyebrows were relaxed as they only could be in sleep. Her lips were so red, and they were almost smiling.  
  
He looked at her, and then something happened. A strange sensation of craving and desire gripped his entire being. It was as if something was forcing him forward, toward Sam, toward her, toward her face. No! Stop! He told his body feverishly, but he couldn't stop himself. He leaned toward Sam's still face, toward her lips, gently moving in and out with her breath.  
  
Just then tucked burst into the room. "Danny, come quick!" he shouted, paying no attention to what was going on inside the room. "there's something out here that you need to fix! Now, come on!" 


	8. A Ghost and a Longing

Out in the antibacterial-scented halls of CityCenter, there was a ghost. Danny sighed with relief. Something very strange had happened to him in that hospital room with Sam. He didn't love her like that. She was his best friend, nothing more or less then that. But then, what was it about her that was so irresistible and enticing about her? She wasn't beautiful like Paullina. She wasn't even really smart or anything. He didn't like her in that way. He hadn't felt in control of his mind when he'd leaned down to kiss her. It was way too bizarre and way too daunting for him. Especially when Sam was in some sort of coma or something.  
  
His musings were interrupted when the ghost roared. Danny realized that he'd been daydreaming...about Sam! That was weird, very strange. Oh no, he was doing it again! Snap out of it, Fenton, he commanded himself. Concentrate on the ghost.  
  
It was large and white, looking much more like the classic image of a ghost than those spirits he normally battled. On its head was one large, red, beady eye. As Danny moved closer to it, blue fog came out of his mouth. Okay, definitely a good time to go ghost.  
  
"Tucker!" he shouted. "Cover me! I'm GOING GHOST!" As Danny uttered those last two words, Tucker jumped in front of him, shielding him from the empty hallway. Before Tucker's eyes only, Danny changed from a black-haired, blue- eyed teenaged wimp, into a well muscled, white-haired superhero with glowing green eyes.  
  
Danny charged at the ghost, knocking it from the air. He punched it and kicked it, but it just sat there, a stationary, blubbery blob of ectoplasm. "Darn you, stupid ghost. Die already...or something." He corrected himself. "You're already lifeless."  
  
But no matter how much he punched it, kicked it, or yelled at it, the ghost wouldn't move, and just when Danny had given up on anything happening at all, the ghost began to laugh.  
  
"Ha. Ha ha ha ha...pathetic Halfling. You know nothing. Even now you are too late. Perhaps 2000 years too late. Hahaha!" As he spoke, the ghost faded away to nothing, leaving Danny and Tucker standing there, gaping.  
  
"What just happened?" Tucker looked dumbfounded.  
  
"I don't know..." Danny shared his expression.  
  
"What was it talking about? The whole 'too late' thing?"  
  
"Yeah, 'two thousand years?' What about it? What happened to ghosts that long ago?"  
  
"You don't suppose that there's some connection between your precious Nihotes...and that thing?"  
  
"What would they be doing in the hospital?"  
  
"You don't think..."  
  
"...it was a distraction!" Tucker and Danny moaned in unison.  
  
Danny flew as fast as his ghost form would allow towards her hospital room, with Tucker close behind. As he burst into the room, he was shocked to discover...Sam. Lying there on the bed, like she had been when they left. "Nothing happened!" Danny sighed. "Whew, I was sure we might come to some other conclusion."  
  
"Well," Tucker said. "I hate to do this to you, bud, but I got homework that I have to do. Well, you're on your own. It's not like you don't have a way to get home. See ya later, Danny." Tucker left the room, and the door swung shut. Danny was alone with Sam again.  
  
Not that there was anything wrong with that. Nothing could happen, he wouldn't let it. His mind was his to control, not anything else's, especially not his emotions. Sam was just his friend. He inched closer to her. She was his best friend. He inched closer still. He didn't love her. Closer to her. He didn't want to kiss her. He was right next to her face. He didn't want...he didn't...no...  
  
Danny felt his face leaning down toward Sam's own. No! He thought. Stop! What are you doing? But Danny was no longer in command of his body. Sam's face grew larger in his field of vision. He was right in front of her now.  
  
He kissed her. He wanted to fight it, but he couldn't. It just felt so good, so true. His mind was filled with a yearning for Sam, for her love, stronger than any emotion he'd had ever felt. He was so filled with feeling that he couldn't think. He could, in the back of his mind, fell his body transform from ghost mode to human to ghost again, but he no longer cared. It was perfect.  
  
Deep within his mind, a voice spoke to him. If this isn't what you chose, then why are you enjoying this so much? Isn't this what you want, child? You can have all this. Come to us. Come to us, she is waiting here for you. Come to us.  
  
Those simple words shook Danny out of his euphoric state. What? What was that voice? It hadn't been his, but it sounded familiar. But more importantly, what his it meant? Where was Sam waiting for him? Had it been that voice that forced him to kiss Sam? Or had he done it of his own free will?  
  
Where was Sam? Wasn't she right here? There was only one way to find out for sure. Danny dove into her mind. He looked around for some sign of life, but found only a blue puddle where her consciousness should have been. He looked closer at the foaming, bubbling liquid, and found that it consisted solely of Nihote symbols. What? What did the Nihotes want with Sam? She lived two thousand years in their future, and had no significance to anyone...but him. Sam was bait. He realized he'd have to find her.  
  
But where would she be? The only clue was a blue, melting puddle, and a mark on his forehead. He touched the liquid, and went spinning into the past. 


End file.
